The Sainthood Project Challenge: The Jesus Prayer

Yesterday I wrote that I was looking for five people to take the Sainthood Challenge and spend thirty days desiring sainthood and writing about its impact on their lives. I think this provides a better perspective in the long run for those that are looking to be a part of The Sainthood Project. There are still a few spots open so if you want to take up the challenge, please email me.

At the end of each week I will ask each of the participants to give us an overview of where they are at, particular challenges they are facing, and what they see changing in their own lives. You can feel free to do this anonymously from home, but let's start with Week One.

Here we go.

For the next month you are choosing to live as if only one thing matters, and that is to be a saint. This means that you are going to be obsessed with God, as a teenager who is obsessed with her new love interest. In all situations the only thing that is going to matter is picking the path of sainthood.

No cheating.

No rationalizing.

No procrastination.

It may help to think that you are going to die in thirty days and you have that amount of time to make your life "sainthood-worthy." I'll outline some steps here and we will work this out as we go. It is based on what I have experienced in the last year, the areas where I think we as a society are settling for second-rate when it comes to God and our relationship to Jesus.

The first week focuses on prayer. In order to choose sainthood, we must from the beginning focus on the Sanctifying Grace of God and His ability to take us and make us into the being that He designed us to be.

This could potentially be quite scary. You run the risk of actually bucking the system, of going against the norm, of rejecting the expectation of mediocrity. You could also find that your idea of what a saint is falls well short of what God wants. There is the possibility of a "white martyrdom" and the rejection of those that are close to you.

This is also exciting. Who knows you better than your Creator? Who wants what is best for you more than God? You are embarking on a path that is going to lead you to fulfill the deepest potential that is in you. For what you were created for.

For the next week, you are to be obsessed with prayer at all times. It doesn't have to be a particular type of prayer for any type of prayer is better than no prayer. One exercise that I have repeated over and over again without perfection, but it has certainly helped with temptation is the "Jesus Prayer."

This is taken from the Gospels when the blind man called out, "Jesus Christ, son of the Living God, have mercy on me, a sinner!" This prayer is perfect in so many ways. To simply repeat that over and over puts ourselves in perspective to God. It can be shortened to "Jesus, have mercy on me, a sinner." Or "Jesus, have mercy." Or even simply the name: "Jesus."

There is power in that name. Do you want evidence of the power? Mention it at your next social gathering and watch the impact. Put it on your Facebook profile.

How do you constantly pray?

Think of the name of Jesus every time you walk through a doorway. Every time you pass through a hinged entrance or exit bring to mind the name of Jesus. Remember that He walks with you. We believe in a risen Lord, not a dead corpse. A God that walks with you is one that will see all of your actions, listen to your thoughts, your concerns, your prayers.

If you can do this for even one day, your day will change. Your relationships will be different if Christ is with you. Your conversations will take on a new meaning. You may forget, but the point is to consistently strive for better. If a saint is unified with God in Heaven, then we must get used to being unified and in the presence of God at all times on Earth.

Maybe you can think of some other ways to be in consistent prayer, to keep your soul constantly mindful of the Divine.

In the coming week we are going to focus on ways to pray, ways to grow our relationship with Christ, each one building on the other.

For today, walk through the doorways and remember that Christ walks with you.

As always, your comments are encouraged. Share your stories, share your experience, share your prayer.